March 2009 Archives

For the third month in a row, Thomson has been the highest scoring agency Mystery Shopped - most recently Thomson in Bishop Auckland achieveing 99% in March. Well done! It means that branch has won the use of a Porsche Boxter for a month, courtesy of Elite Island Resorts (watch the video here).

As you would expect, this got me thinking about why Thomson has been so successful recently in Mystery Shopper. I wanted to find out what they were doing that other shops weren't.

I started by looking at Mystery Shopper itself. Is the way it is scored and the values of the Mystery Shopper biased in favour of the way Thomson operates?

Reading back through the winning reports from Thomson, I did note that Mystery Shopper was always pleased to be presented with a travel planner. But this is nothing special - most agencies have smart letter paper or folders to present quotes.

Likewise, Mystery Shopper has always been impressed with the smart appearance of the staff and agency. Again, this is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, shops quite often get high scores for appearance - this week's all got full marks in this category.

Where Thomson has scored better is on the service and product knowledge. Reading through the reports and comparing, on these occasions Thomson has given exceptional customer service - leaving no stone unturned.

This includes everything from offering Mystery Shopper a seat and cuppa, to trying to sell extras such as airport car parking.

The question now is why aren't other agencies doing the same? Is it realistic to look after every customer in the same way as these particular Thomson consultants have looked after Mystery Shopper? I'm interested to hear your views.

PS I don't do the mystery shops; I just get a peek at the unedited results.

Presentation was key in determining who won Mystery Shopper in Consett, County Durham this week. Dawson and Sanderson, Thomson and Thomas Cook all displayed good levels of customer service, but for two of the agencies marks were lost on appearance.

Thomson got the highest score, but Thomas Cook could have given them a good run for their money if only the shop had been tidier. Mystery Shopper wrote: "The flooring was visibly dirty with items of litter and many of the home-made signs were discoloured and worn. The display shelves were in need of repair and some of the posters were dog-eared."

One way Dawson and Sanderson could have boosted its score was if the consultant had presented the quote better, rather than hand-writing it on a scrap piece of paper. Mystery Shopper said: "This did not seem very professional."

I was glad to see Mystery Shopper praised the consultants for referring to their call centre colleagues. With a complicated request - a Canada flydrive - many agents won't have had the opportunity to experience this product first hand and may not have even sold this holiday before. Therefore referring to a colleague who has more in-depth knowledge is certainly providing the best customer service and it was good that Mystery Shopper recognised this.

Meanwhile, this week the winning agency also sold the most expensive holiday. Mystery Shopper certainly rated the agency best in terms of appearance, service and knowledge, but had it been a real customer, I wonder whether that would have been enough to get them to part with over £1,500 more than the rivals quoted.

PS I don't do the mystery shops, I just get a peek at the unedited results.

How clean is your desk?

I only ask because looking though the reports from this week's Mystery Shopper in Sunderland, one of the agencies - Tate's Travel - lost marks because of the appearance of their desks.

The Mystery Shopper said: "There were drinks and personal items on the desks which made them look cluttered." Fair?

I don't work in a shop, but every so often we get told to tidy our desks otherwise the boss threatens to implement a clean desk policy, where we have to leave our desks tidy at the end of each day.

I wonder how many shops have such a policy and whether consultants mind not being able to have photos of their friends and family on their desks. More importantly, what do customers think - is a messy desk off-putting?

Meanwhile, the Mystery Shopper said she was impressed that the consultant at Hays Travel told her about the agency. She said: "While getting the quotes she chatted about the company, explaining how old it was and that it was based in the northeast. She sounded proud to work for this company."

Is this something you use to help sell holidays? Do you think customers care about the agency or just the product they are booking?

PS I don't do the mystery shops; I just get a peek at the unedited results.

Welcome to the community editor's blog.

Here you'll find posts about you - the travel agent - and the issues and events that affect your everyday work.

I'll also be revealing more about Travel Weekly, how the magazine and website is put together and what we're up to.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a comment or follow me on Twitter.